Video Transcript:

Metempsychosis is a PC shoot-em-up game about a spacefaring Buddhist A.I., which can “reincarnate” into other spaceships to change its abilities and restore its health. After conceiving of Metempsychosis, I developed it remotely with a small team of other students in the summer of 2020, serving as the lead systems and narrative designer. In these roles, I wrote the game’s narrative context, as well as designed its first boss, its tutorial, and all five of its playable ships. Our team only had one programmer, so I also used my skills in Unity and C# to help out.

The greatest challenge of Metempsychosis was designing around reincarnation. Early on, the “Karma” used to reincarnate was gained by shooting, and most testers only reincarnated when their health was low, making it thoughtless both to use and obtain. To encourage reincarnation, our programmer made the suggestion to give the player limited ammo that must be refilled by switching ships. Additionally, I designed the “meditation” mechanic, which meant players could only gain Karma by not pressing any keys, making it risky and more evocative of Buddhist themes. Developing Metempsychosis was tricky, but it was an excellent lesson in remote development and iteration.

Additional Documentation:

Early Design Sketch: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_1G94IGEftsqS56KmL-Yv8usFcp50WYV5OQgcYr14QI/edit?usp=sharing

Design Document: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1znLZ_dY7bE0ZgBsPVNq8lCxw5v-Bt_6JeywNL07mu4I/edit?usp=sharing

Development History: https://docs.google.com/document/d/11b-VA8OgxDAAYgxp8qdMvEeCSuH10tJeonNbgbvUy4M/edit?usp=sharing